At first, Brittany Wampler didn’t believe what her three children were telling her, that a dust devil had flung their dog Duke into the air. But because they were all telling the same story, she started investigating.
“All three kids were right there and had quite the stories,” Wampler said in a Facebook post. “That’s why I reached out to the neighbors…I had to see it!”
There, on the neighbor’s surveillance camera, was video showing the 70-pound Labrador going airborne, appearing to twist like a whirlybird, but it might have only looked that way as it tried regaining its feet.
https://www.facebook.com/172716696103329/videos/499118751531993
The incident occurred Tuesday afternoon in Weyers Cave, West Virginia. WHSV and AccuWeather posted clearer versions of the video on their websites.
It isn’t clear if the kids actually called it a dust devil at first, but the National Weather Service confirmed what everybody thought after seeing the video, stating, “Definitely looks like a dust devil to us.”
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“The kids were right there and saw the whole thing,” Wampler reiterated on Facebook. “It threw him over the underground electric fence. It definitely threw him down harder than I thought. I was shocked to see it.”
Duke the Flying Lab—as Wampler referred to her dog—was “thankfully” okay. It certainly could have been worse.
“Very glad my youngest wasn’t close by,” Wampler said. “Not much weight difference!”